


Tangles of the Moon

by orphan_account



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Disney Crossover fic cause im trash, F/M, tangled
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-22
Updated: 2015-10-04
Packaged: 2018-04-22 20:42:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4849883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is the story of a young girl, named Katara, and it starts with the moon.</p><p>Basically Tangled but with the Avatar: The Last Airbender group and some changes. Zutara[Zuko/Katara] romantically involved eventually. I've had this idea in my head for weeks and I finally decided to start it! I love this movie and these characters and yeah. </p><p>This is my first time writing a fanfic in years, so please bear with me as I get back into the swing of things. :)</p><p>Also it's teen for now but the rating may go up I'm not sure just yet.</p><p>EDIT: Now with official art of Katara, done by me! http://fav.me/d9ev25h</p><p>ON HIATUS; I'VE LOST INSPIRATION FOR THIS STORY. I MAY COMPLETE IT AT A LATER TIME, BUT FOR NOW IT WILL NO LONGER BE RECEIVING UPDATES.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now with official art of Katara, done by me. c: http://fav.me/d9ev25h

This is the story of a young girl, named Katara, and it starts with the moon.

Now, once upon a time, a single drop of moonlight fell from the heavens above our world, and from the drop of moon, grew a magic, white flower. It had the ability to heal the sick of any ailment, heal the injured of any wound. It was given to the human world by the spirit of the moon, Tui. It was entrusted to the humans, in hopes that it would bring them together, kindness and a want to save one another and bring forth the greater good. However, this was unfortunately not quite what happened. What happened instead was the beginning of something both amazing, and terrible.

An elderly woman came across the beautiful bloom one misty night along the cliffs over a large inlet of water; where but in a few centuries, a short ways away a small kingdom would grow and thrive into one of the most beautiful kingdoms upon the large continent, but even more amazing than that were the people who lived there.

They seemed completely unassuming at first, but this was only to those who knew not how to look. Why, even spending a day in this kingdom would reveal much of its people! The people in this kingdom were benders; humans who were gifted with the elements and able to control them in beautiful and amazing displays of power, and also were able to use them in their daily lives. There were benders who wielded powers over the earth, could make her crumble beneath them at a moment’s notice if need be, but were also able to use these powers to move large objects, and even to create elevators to help move large, heavy masses of cargo throughout their kingdom.

Of course, earth benders weren’t the only type of benders in this kingdom. There were three other elements that existed; water, fire, and air. Water benders could pilot ships and navigate the seas easier than any other sailors, the sea was their home and the ancient ancestors of the current day water benders had learned from Tui herself how to push and pull the water. Air benders could help produce the clearest skies when they were still plentiful, could give ships favorable winds to ride upon if there were no water benders to accompany them. Of course things are settled down now, but there was once a great war were nearly all of the air benders were slain, save for one young boy.

The fire benders, had quite an extravagant power, if I do say so myself, the ability to create flames from nothing, thus giving the city its lights at night, and helping to light fires where they were needed in homes, especially during the snowy winters in the kingdom. The kingdom was very prosperous for many years, and the royal family was always in contact with its people, having the castle open to visitors for most of the day so that people could come and visit their king and queen, it was simply a tradition.

The king and queen were beloved by their people, as was their young son, Prince Sokka. His parents loved him more than anything in the world, and he was given much freedom to do as he pleased at a young age. Things change as time goes on of course, and not long after the young prince turned one and a half, was it revealed that the queen was expecting another child, a baby princess.

Things unfortunately, began to go downhill with the queen’s health. She came down with an illness that was entirely unfamiliar to any of the kingdoms healers, or doctors. There was nothing any of them could do, but to watch over her and to help her through her pain. During this time, the king sought council with the spirits, Tui and La, meditating beside them whenever his wife seemed to be feeling better. He hated to leave her side but he knew the spirits would not allow her, and their unborn daughter, to die.

Finally, late one night, the spirits came to him in a dream, informing the king of just what it was he needed to save his wife and daughter; a white flower, made from a drop of moonlight that had fallen to the earth a near thousand years ago. With this knowledge, the king called upon his entire kingdoms people, asking their help to save the queen, to help him to find this flower, and of course, the people were more than willing to save their beloved queen.

However, one elderly woman knew exactly where this magical flower was. Only, she had no intentions of giving this flower to the kingdom nearby, she intended to use it selfishly, as she had been for centuries. Rather than share the moons gracious gift, Lady Hama had been hiding it and using its magical properties for herself, to keep herself from aging. And all she had to do was sing an incantation to the flower.

“Flower, gleam and glow, let your power shine, make the clock reverse, bring back what once was mine. What once was mine,” Hama trailed off, drawing a deep breath in and feeling the power course through her as her age was chased away by the flowers magic.

Alright, you get the gist of it, she sings to it, turns young, creepy right?

That night, just after performing her..ritual to the flower, she heard voices not too far off. She hurriedly covered the flower back up, grabbing her lantern and hurrying away before she was discovered. As she got up in such a hurry though, she bumped the fake bush she had used to hide the flower for so long, and it was left glowing in the open. Moments later, one of the many search parties came across the flower.

A couple of the castle guards in the party dug the flower up very carefully, not wanting to damage the only hope they had to save their queen. They carted it back in quite the hurry, brewing it into a tonic and giving it to the queen. She drank the glowing elixir, and now everyone had to wait to see if it would heal the queen as they had hoped her husband and young son by her side the entire time.

She awoke the next morning, feeling completely healed, and it seemed the flower had done its job with no ill effects. And a few months later, the queen gave birth to the princess, who was born with startlingly beautiful white hair that mirrored the flower that had saved her.

You might have guessed it, by now, but that baby princess was Katara.

To celebrate the healthy princess’ birth, King Hakoda, Queen Kaya, and Prince Sokka launched a floating lantern with decorations of the moon across it into the sky, as did the rest of the kingdom, quickly instilling a tradition that would exist for years to come.

And for that one moment, everything seemed utterly perfect, and then as quickly as it had come, that moment ended.

Hama broke into the castle, and found the princess, beginning to sing to her and seeing her hair begin to glow the same white the flower had. She reached her hand into the bassinet, holding a lock of her hair and feeling the familiar power flood her, she reached into her bag and took the pair of scissors from it, cutting the lock of hair in her hand. However, as soon as she cut it, it went from the glowing white to a deep brown, and she aged back to before she had begun to sing to the princess this evening. The magic would be gone the day the princess had her first hair cut! Hama was not going to let her flower be taken from her again. And so, Hama stole the princess and vanished, just like that. Gone.

The kingdom searched and searched, but they could not find the princess, or the woman who had stolen her, for deep within the forest, in a hidden tower in a grotto as camouflaged from the outside world as could be, Hama raised the child as if she were her own.

The princess’ tiny voice often came from the tower when she was a little girl, singing the pretty song her mother had taught her that made her so, so happy.

Hama had found her new magic flower, but this time she was determined to keep it hidden.

“Why can’t I go outside?” The princess asked, no older than four or five years.

“The outside world is a dangerous place, filled with horrible, selfish people. You must stay here, where you’re safe, do you understand, Flower?” Hama asked, using what the child would only assume was an affectionate pet name, but Hama was addressing her as though she were still that lovely little plant.

“Yes, Mommy.”

But the walls of that tower did not hide everything.

Each year on her birthday, the royal family released thousands of lanterns into the sky, in hope that one day, their lost princess would return.


	2. When Will My Life Begin..?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katara goes through her usual daily activities with her one companion, just wondering when her life will change and stop being quite so..monotonous.
> 
> On a side note I'm quite content with this chapters length, maybe I'll be able to create more that are this long. :)

This morning started out as any other for a certain young lady caught up in a hidden tower. She woke just after the sun had risen into the sky, though it was still dark in the grotto where the girl lived. And just as she did each morning, she packed up a basket of food and drink for her mother’s journey that day. Biscuits and rolls and cookies and a couple of sandwiches, just in case she was gone for an extra-long amount of time that day. Katara always made sure her mother had more than enough food in her basket, after all this was her mother, and she loved the woman dearly, for she was all she had in the world. Katara had never known her father you see, and when she would ask her mother about it, she would always get vague answers, and her mother would look off distantly. The only item the young girl had that was tied to her father was a very beautiful and delicate necklace, that her mother had given to her when she was near thirteen, and Katara had worn it proudly ever since.

Of course, Katara didn’t know that the necklace was something that Hama had stolen from the castle many years ago, and that the queen was often distressed as to its whereabouts, even six years later. It was her betrothal necklace you see, so it was very important to the queen as it had been hand crafted for her by her husband, as a proposal of marriage.

Katara had watched her mother leave a couple of hours earlier in the day, and now, as usual, the young lady had almost the entire day to herself.

Almost.

Out upon the window sill, a little chameleon darted out from under the shutters to the tower, stopping for but a second to glance back and forth before running along the windowsill in a hurry, as if it had seen something terrifying. It darted beside one of the two potted plants, standing up and changing its colors so that it blended in with the pot nearly perfectly. Seconds later, the shutters burst open to reveal Katara, white hair somewhat disheveled as though she had been running about in quite the hurry.

“Gotcha!” She said with a grin, only for there to not be a soul there. “Hmm..Well, I guess Haru’s not hiding out here,” she called out purposefully loud, turning as though she were going to walk away. The little chameleon chuckled from his hiding place, only for a strand of white hair to wrap around his tail, and suddenly tug him upward, face to face with Katara. “Gotcha!” She laughed, much to the chameleon’s dismay, as he let out a defeated noise and turned back into his normal vibrant green, drawing in several deep breaths to show just how surprised he was.

“That’s twenty-two for me,” she listed as she lowered him back down to the windowsill and released him from her hair, letting it fall to the floor beside her. “How about twenty-three out of forty-five?” She offered, Haru making a sound of discontent and giving her the slightest of glares, to which Katara simply rolled her eyes. “Okay well, what do you wanna do?” She inquired, moving to sit upon the windowsill beside Haru. The chameleon grinned, unrolling his tail and pointing it outside, making his decision rather obvious.

“Yeah, I don’t think so,” Katara laughed softly as she swung her legs to hang off of the edge of the windowsill, picking Haru up gently when he wrapped his tail around her finger. Her blue dress billowing around her as she moved so quickly on the windowsill. She set Haru into her lap before she spoke again, “I like it in here, and so do you.” She said simply, to which Haru gave her a flat expression, sticking his tongue out at her.

“Oh, come on Haru, it’s not so bad in there,” she smiled, picking the chameleon up into her hand, spinning around on the windowsill once more to go back into the tower with her companion. She darted across the tower, long white hair following after her on the floor, seemingly endless in it’s length. Katara clambered into the rafters of the tower, using her hair as a lasso almost to reach for one of the hooks much higher up and out of her reach, so she could pull it open and let in some more sunlight, she then proceded to grab onto her hair with both hands and slide down it and back onto the floor. She landed just beside the clock, where Haru was sitting and waiting for her.

“7 AM, the usual morning lineup,” she began with a laugh.

“Start on the chores and sweep 'til the floor's all clean,” she sang as she made her way across the tower to sweep it up, long white hair seemingly hanging off of any object it could, and somehow still dragging on the floor, as she swept the dirt and dust into a dust pan that Haru was so helpfully holding onto for her.

“Polish and wax, do laundry, and mop and shine up,” She glided across the floor, her hair neatly tucked up onto a table where it hopefully wouldn’t fall as she mopped, even wearing small brushes on her feet to clean with, as well as to prevent tracking mud or leaving footprints on the clean floor, Haru sliding after her as he clung to a single brush. Once the mopping was done and the area was dry, she headed upstairs to hang her and her mother’s nice clean laundry before racing back down the stairs to dust and shine the items that needed it.

“Sweep again, and by then it's like 7:15.” She said with slight frustration as she stopped in front of the same clock with Haru as this morning, after she had just gone upstairs and swept both her room and her mothers. It felt like these activities should have taken so much longer, and it almost wasn’t fair that it went by so quickly.

“And so I'll read a book or maybe two or three,” she sang happily, grabbing a few books on water bending off of the shelf, eager to do a little bit of practice in the bathroom because even if she couldn’t reach the pond below the tower, she could fill the bath tub a bit and use that! Once she was done with that she headed off to find something else to do.

“I'll add a few new paintings to my gallery,” she was now hanging precariously from her ceiling, somehow having made herself a comfortable sling with her long white hair, holding herself up with it and keeping it taught by holding onto the hair with one of her feet as she focused on not moving, so as to not mess up her strokes on the dress she was painting on the wall, a painting of herself surrounded by birds and with her long white hair flowing after her.

“I'll play guitar and knit, and cook and basically,” she went from strumming and adjusting her guitar to knitting a scarf that was far too long, that Haru was tucked into the middle of, until she grew bored of this activity as well. She then ran off into the kitchen, gathering the ingredients to make a nice apple pie. She started off with stoking the fire for the oven and then moved on to combining the ingredients once she was content with the temperature. Before she knew it, the pie was done and in her oven mitt covered hands so she wouldn’t burn herself, and it smelled lovely. Clearly Haru shared this opinion, as he was hanging off of her shoulder, tail clinging to her hair as he leaned over to smell the treat.

“Just wonder when will my life begin?” Katara began to walk off with the intent of setting the pie onto the counter, but something caught her eye first. An area above the fireplace that was curtained, with a large wooden piece set atop it. She reached her thumb up, measuring the area the way she measured many things, already having an idea of what she could possibly paint in the precarious area. She grinned, setting the pie down and darting away with Haru to get and get some of her nicer paints. She hurriedly hoisted herself, and Haru, up with her hair, shoving the large ornate wood piece aside and beginning to paint with a navy blue color.

“Then after lunch it's puzzles and darts, and baking,” Katara sat, somewhat stumped by a few pieces in the large puzzle she was working on, looking over at Haru as he blended in with the puzzle and beamed at her proudly. From there she went on to throwing darts, although the activity had never been one she enjoyed extensively, she was looking for anything to entertain herself. She wasn’t surprised when she grew tired of this, and she hurried back to the kitchen to bake a fresh batch of chocolate chip cookies. She even doubled the normal recipe, making a few dozen of the delicious treats as Haru sat on one of the plates munching down a still warm cookie.

“Paper Mache, a bit of ballet and chess,” she laughed, chasing after Haru with a silly looking version of her own head, wearing it and laughing all the while. She moved on to ballet, dancing around and not noticing just how tangled her hair was becoming, until she spun around and wound up wrapping herself in it, letting out a startled sound as she fell to the floor, reaching a hand up to move a chess piece toward one of Haru’s, even from her silly position all wrapped up on the floor.

“Pottery and ventriloquy, candle making,” Katara made a pretty pot on her pottery wheel, Haru reaching his tail over and pressing it into the wet clay to give it a wiggled pattern, much to Katara’s delight. Soon after she was sitting and pretending to drink water with Haru in her lap pretending to be her puppet as she moved his tail up and down, the chameleon opening and closing his mouth in response. By the time she had dipped the last three candles, after she had grown bored of the faux ventriloquy, she looked exasperated, and she seemed to be beginning to get bored.

“Then I'll stretch, maybe sketch, take a climb, sew a dress!” She did some warm up stretches, drawing deep concentrating breaths as she worked, Haru imitating her the whole time, causing her to let out little laughs here and there. She really didn’t know what she would do without him. From there she was back up on the mantle, painting golden rings around some yellow sphere she had added once the navy blue paint had dried. Once it was time to let that layer dry, she began to climb up the inside of the tower by climbing up her hair once again. After getting to the top and sitting for a breather for a few minutes, she slid back down, heading up to her bedroom to work on the new dress she’d been sewing for the past few days. It was nearly done and she was eager to finish it today so she could wear something nice and pretty on her birthday. And she ended up finishing it rather quickly, trying it on and grinning at the result before returning it to her mannequin.

“And I'll reread the books if I have time to spare,” she sang with a bit less pizazz than she had earlier, not looking as excited about re-reading the books as she had this morning, mostly because she wasn’t stimulated enough to bend much before she returned the books once again. She was a surprisingly talented water bender for someone who mostly practiced in the bath tub. Although, to be fair, Katara’s mother was extremely accomplished as a bender and taught Katara rather often when she had the time ever since the young lady was very small. 

“I'll paint the walls some more, I'm sure there's room somewhere,” she looked around as she sang, actually beginning to wonder if there was much of any room in the tower to paint. She had been living here for nineteen years after all; things were bound to be covered in paint by now. Although she did not find a new spot to paint, she did touch up several of her paintings, making the colors more vibrant and adding little things here and there that brought the pieces together just a bit more, made them look more finished, even though they had looked amazing to begin with.

“And then I'll brush and brush, and brush and brush my hair, stuck in the same place I've always been.” Katara moved from the ends of her long hair, up to the roots, arms feeling sore before she was even halfway done. Once she had done that though, she moved from her roots down to her ends, ending up all over the tower, and before she was done she was chasing her hair into the rafters to get it all nice and brushed neatly before she flopped down on one rafter to finish the very end of her long, long, long hair and sat for a few moments to catch her breath. It may not seem an exhausting activity, but it truly was.

“And I'll keep wondering and wondering, and wondering, and wondering, when will my life begin?” Katara was running in circles in the tower, throwing her hair up into the air dramatically, only to have it flop onto the floor beside her in a large circle. As she got to the roots of her hair, she took the large amount in her hands, throwing it all up at once in exasperation and watching as it fell to the floor in three additional circles around her.

“Tomorrow night the lights will appear, just like they do on my birthday each year.” Katara sang softly, Haru climbing up onto her shoulder, as she moved over to the window and leaned onto it as she looked out, looking right out at where the lights had been appearing every year for as long as she could remember, and she couldn’t help but to wonder for just what reason these lights where here, and only on this one day! It had to be something important or special, and the young woman was desperate to find out just what.

“What is it like out there where they glow? Now that I'm older, mother might just let me go.” She turned back into the inside of the tower, looking at the new painting she had finished, the navy blue sky, and bright golden lights shining through the sky along with the stars, and she added just one last thing; perched and watching the lights, her white hair flowing past her body in the image. She longed so much to see these lights, she was as determined as could be, and she was certain she would go and see them. She would have to go and see them, she simply had to! There was just something about them but she could never place just what it was, they just seemed to be calling to her somehow, as insane as that would sound. She would simply have to convince her mother to let her out of the tower for just one night so she could see these lights!


	3. Mother knows best?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one took so long to post, I had midterms this week so I wasn't able to write for as long as I'd have liked. This is our longest chapter yet at a whopping 3,948 words! And a new character is introduced in this one. ;)

            Across the kingdom, far from where Katara was home in the tower, a far different scene was unfolding. A young man was sliding down the side of a building, and landing on the roof of another, clearly in quite the hurry, a brown satchel dangling off his body. As soon as he had landed, he was sprinting off in another direction, two larger men following behind him at his heels. They snuck across the rooftops of the castle hopping over chimneys and large posts and ducking behind them occasionally as well. They were certainly up to something; it was rather suspicious to see people moving along rooftops with such speed and finesse. They began to hop across the chimneys only, the young man in front nearly slipping off of one but managing to pull himself up after only a few seconds. It was quieter if they only travelled on top of the chimneys because that way they weren’t making thudding sounds that could be as easily detected as they went along. They were sneaking along inside of the castle, and if they were caught they would face harsh penalties, because they could in theory be coming to harm the royal family, and not a soul in the kingdom would be alright with that.

            They moved up the main roof of the castle, looking around to make certain that they were still unseen and had the element of surprise. All it would take was one guard seeing them from the corner of his eye and their operation would be blown entirely. They hopped from the main roof over to another, sidling across it and barely making it unseen as a guard walked the grounds just below where they had been seconds before. They stopped on the roof, and the young man peered off of the roof, taking in the sight. It reminded him of many things, things he had once had in his life and had no longer. But that was the past and this was something entirely different now. He glared off of the rooftop for a moment more before he turned to the other two men behind him. They had both noticed his long look and chuckled.

            “If we pull this off,” one of the men muttered under his breath, “you can get your own damn castle, Li.” He sounded quite annoyed as he came up to the young man, grabbing him and tying a rope around his waist. “You get the crown, and as soon as you have it, we hoist you back out and go before a soul notices us, got it?” he growled out, Li giving a nod.

            “I’m not an idiot; I know what I’m doing and what we’re here for. We’re here to steal the lost princess’s crown, easy.” He said this, though the fire bender was admittedly a touch worried about how this could play out. If they were caught, would the brothers who were preparing to hoist him down just leave him here? Well, if they had the crown he didn’t doubt that was exactly what they would do. So he’d just need to keep it on his person. Easy.

            Li leaned over the tiles of the roof that had been removed, peering down into the hole below them. He drew in a deep breath, looking around at all the guards. If worse came to worst, he would just have to fight his way around them. That wouldn’t be dreadfully difficult he imagined, he’d been trained rather well as a young man, although looking at him you may assume otherwise.

            As he was lowered down into the room, Li remained as silent as possible; body taught as he was lowered above the small pedestal the crown was resting on. He counted the number of guards present in the room, just as a precaution. There were nine, and he was certain he could easily take on nine  guards. None of them appeared to be benders, which worked out even better for him. The two men above, Zhon and Zhun, were careful to keep Li steady as he was lowered further and further from them, getting closer to that gorgeous crown with each passing second. Just as Li’s fingers wrapped around the thin band of the crown, a guard in front of him sneezed, sounding rather silly when he did. Li let out a chuckle, muttering “Hay fever?” with the hint of a laugh, crown tucked safely into the satchel as he placed it back onto his shoulder.

            “Yeah,” the guard said, glancing back behind him and noticing Li. It only took the guard a few seconds to realize what was going on, and by then the other guards had turned and noticed him as well. “Thief!” he yelled, and the other guards charged at Li, who was beginning to be pulled up, but not fast enough. One of the guards swung his large spear toward him, and Li had to shoot fire to prevent the fan from hitting him. He then formed a ring of fire around himself, pushing it down and outward toward the guards when he was still in their reach, it only took him a few more seconds to be pulled up, and by then the guards were storming out of the room to inform the other guards and the king and queen that Li of the West had just stolen the lost princess’ crown.

            Li, Zhon, and Zhun were running out of the kingdom as fast as they could, crossing over the enormous cobblestone bridge that led into the forest nearby. Once they were there it would most certainly be easy to get away from the guards who would no doubt be in hot pursuit of the men. Li was grinning, and he let out a laugh. “Imagine gentlemen, me in a castle of my own,” he let out an extra loud laugh as he carried the satchel in hand, speed never faltering as he continued on. Quite a lot had already happened this morning, and it was still so early in the day! It was most certainly going to be a big day once they out ran these guards.

 

 

            “This is it,” Katara said to Haru, hurriedly putting her paints away in their ornately decorated metal chest. “This is a very big day, Haru,” she laughed with excitement as the little chameleon climbed onto her wrist. She couldn’t help the enormous beaming smile on her face, she was so hopeful for today. “I’m _finally_ gonna do it! I’m gonna ask her,” Haru clambered up Katara’s arm and across to her other shoulder.

            “Katara!” Called a kind sounding voice from outside the tower. Said girl gasped and grinned. “Let down your hair!” Her mother called up in a sing-song voice as she always did.

“It’s time!” Haru sat up extra straight, as if trying to pass on his confidence to Katara and encourage her to hold herself confidently. “I know, I know,” she took the chameleon into her hands and let him climb onto the wall onto her painting where he immediately blended himself in with the dark greens. “Don’t let her see you,” she smiled, tugging the curtains almost all the way closed over her art piece so that Haru was still able to poke his head out and see what was going on.

“Katara? I’m not getting any younger down here!” Her mother called up in the same tone as before.

“Coming mother!” Katara called out from the window sill, leaning over and tossing part of her hair into the hook that was built into the tower. She stepped forward, throwing down the rest of her gorgeous white hair to her mother so she could pull her up. Her mother caught the end easily, preventing any of Katara’s hair from touching the ground. She made a loop in the hair, stepping into it and being hoisted up the tower by Katara. Katara tugged her mother up, stepping back from the window as she did so as to pull her mother up easier. Really, it was quite an incredible feat for the young girl to be able to pull her mother up just by her own beautiful hair. Katara came closer to the window sill again as her mother was nearly up to her, watching as the woman gracefully stepped onto the window sill and released her daughters hair and took it off of the hook.

            Katara let out a sigh from the effort she had exerted. “Welcome home, mother,” she smiled.

            “Oh, Katara, how you manage to do that every single day without fail! It looks absolutely exhausting darling,” Hama said as she caressed the hair around Katara’s face gently and then placed her fingers below her chin and gave a sympathetic look to her face.

            “Oh, it nothing,” Katara said, still breathing heavily from the effort.

            “Then I don’t know why it takes so long!” Her mother teased, poking her nose lightly a couple of times, letting out a laugh as Katara gave her mother a somewhat offended look. “Oh darling, I’m just teasing!” She said, and Katara let out a forced little laugh.

            “Alright,” she turned to follow after her mother, who had gone to look at herself in the mirror and assess how her age was affecting her. “So, mother, as you know tomorrow is a very big day-“ Hama cut her off.

            “Katara, look in that mirror,” she said as she tugged her daughter closer. “You know what I see? I see a strong, confident, beautiful young lady.” Katara smiled as her mother spoke. “Oh, look, you’re here too,” she said and then let out a loud chortle as Katara frowned a bit. “I’m just teasing, stop taking everything so seriously!” Hama said as she continued examining her face.

            “Okay. So, mother, as I was saying tomorrow is-“ again, the young waterbender was cut off.

            “Katara, mother’s feeling a little run down, would you sing for me dear? Then we’ll talk,” she was still focused on her appearance in the mirror.

            “Oh, of course mother!” Katara said, hurriedly running off to set things up for her mother to brush her hair and for her to sing to her, which Hama noticed. She brought over her mother’s chair just in front of the fireplace as usual, scurrying off faster than she ever had before to go and find the stool she herself sat on. She was back with the stool before her mother had even sat down! She sat her mother down, and then ran off to grab her hair brush, setting it in her mother’s hands quickly and then tugging an area of her hair and practically throwing it into her lap.

            “Flower gleam and glow, let your power shine, make the clock reverse, bring back what once was mine, heal what has been hurt, change the fates’ design, save what has been lost, bring back what once was mine,” Katara sang off the incantation her mother had taught her extremely quickly, and her mother protested it the whole time, as brief as it was. Katara’s hair had hardly even glowed and the effects had barely touched Hama!

            “Katara!” She said disapprovingly as her daughter got up and nearer her face.

            “So, mother, earlier I was saying tomorrow’s a pretty big day and you didn’t really respond,” Katara was leaning over her mother who was still seated in her seat from brushing Katara’s hair just seconds before, Katara’s eyes darting to the ground for a moment before they went back to her mothers, “so I’m just gonna tell you, it’s my birthday! Tada!” Katara grabbed her mother’s arm in excitement. She had said it all so quickly and let out a nervous laugh at the end of it, waiting for her mother to break her own silence and to say something, _anything_.

“No, no, no, can’t be,” her mother said as she gently pried Katara off of her arm. “I distinctly remember: your birthday was last year.” She said matter of factly, as though that were supposed to end the discussion right then and there. She clearly didn’t care for the subject, but Katara either hadn’t noticed or was pretending not to.

“That’s the funny thing about birthdays–“ Katara let out a little laugh, “they’re kind of an annual thing!” She moved her hands in a circle, trying to signify with that little hand signal that birthdays were indeed something that happened each year, as if her mother were unfamiliar with the concept. Katara sighed and sat down on her stool again, brushing some of her radiant white hair behind her ear as she spoke further. “Mother, I’m turning eighteen,” she cupped her hands together nervously as she went on, “and I wanted to ask,” she let out a sigh, “what I really want for this birthday…” She trailed off and began to mumble in her nervousness, a habit she had had for as long as she could remember. “Actually what I’ve wanted for quite a few birthdays now.”

“Okay, Katara, please, stop with the mumbling,” Hama said disapprovingly with a small frown on her face. She couldn’t stand it when Katara mumbled. “You know how I feel about the mumbling–blah-blah-blah-blah,” she moved her hand quickly when she made the ‘blah’ noises, insinuating a person talking who couldn’t shut their mouth, “it’s very annoying, I’m just teasing, you’re adorable,” she said grabbing her daughter’s cheek with a smile and a laugh. “I love you so much, darling.” Hama got up from her chair, walking away from Katara.

            Katara sighed and looked away, beginning to lose hope of ever getting her mother to understand or listen to her about this. Haru could see this too, and he made a noise at her from his new hiding spot on the floor, waving his tiny paw at her to encourage her to pursue the conversation with her mother. She drew in to herself to make herself smaller for a moment before she let out an exasperated noise and spoke up.

“I want to see the floating lights!” She said quickly and excitedly, hands gripped into tiny, excited fists at her chest. Hama let out a nervous laugh.

“What?” She asked curiously, unsure of what it was Katara was trying to say to her.

“Oh. Well, _I was hoping you would take me to see the floating lights_ ,” Katara corrected herself, moving over to the painting she had done that day, tugging the curtain aside to reveal the beautiful artwork of her sitting in a tree and watching the aforementioned floating light travelling through the sky.

“Oh. You mean the stars.” Hama said simply, turning back to the basket she had been reaching into before Katara’s outburst. She was unpacking her basket from the shopping and foraging she had done that day while she was away from the tower.

“That’s the thing,” Katara turned and swung her hair across the room, hooking it onto one of the ceiling latches that open one of the high up windows. It flooded in bright sunlight, lighting up a spot in the ceiling where Katara had taken the time to make a beautiful star chart.

“I’ve charted stars and they’re always constant–but these–they appear every year on my birthday, mother–ONLY on my birthday.” She was so desperate for her mother to understand what she was talking about. She had been watching these lights since she was a very, very little girl and she knew that they were not stars. She was completely certain that they were not stars.  “And I can’t help but feel like they’re… they’re meant for me.” She said softly, looking up to her painting and then placing her hand upon her chest to refer to herself with. The entire time, Hama was looking at Katara as if she were crazy.

“I need to see them, mother,” Hama began to walk across the tower as Katara continued to speak, clearly displeased. “and not just from my window. In person. I have to know what they are.” The young waterbender was practically begging her mother to take her to them, she was so, so desperate to go and see these floating lights, whatever they were.

“You want to go outside? Why, Katara,” Hama said as she strolled over to the window, looking over her shoulder at her young daughter as she shut the window she had come through, closing it a bit forcefully. Katara looked on at her mother with a touch of confusion gracing her features.

“Look at you, as fragile as a flower,” Hama said as she walked backed to Katara quickly, taking her hands and twirling her gently, smiling softly.

“Still a little sapling, just a sprout,” she sang as she pulled Katara closer, patting her on the head to belittle the girl.

“You know why we stay up in this tower,” she raised her arms up, gesturing around their tower home.

“I know, but,” Katara began with a frown.

“That's right, to keep you safe and sound, dear,” Hama started off caressing the top of Katara’s head, moving down to only caressing her hair and pressing it to her cheek as she caressed it for a few feet, Katara turning and looking on as her mother caressed her hair in such an odd fashion.

“Guess I always knew this day was coming,” Hama said as she dramatically ran up to the window, posing with her arm draped across her forehead before tugging the curtain closed behind her.

“Knew that soon you'd want to leave the nest,” Hama smiled as she waltzed past Katara, making a bird with her hands and going through the motions of it fluttering right out of her hands.

“Soon, but not yet,” Hama stopped on the stairs and held up a finger.

“But-” Katara went to argue, only for her mother to place her finger against her lips to hush her.

“Trust me, pet,” she stepped back on the stairwell.

“Mother knows best,” she sang proudly as she moved to the wall and then bumped it with her hip, causing the opened window to close with a thud as the latch was loosened, plunging the tower into darkness.

“Mother knows best,” Katara lit a candle with a match and looked around in the darkness, confused as to where her mother was.

“Listen to your mother, it's a scary world out there,” Hama sang as she jumped out at Katara and caused her to let out a small yell in surprise before she vanished into the darkness again.

“Mother knows best,” this time her mother was tugging on her hair from the shadows.

“One way or another, something will go wrong, I swear,” Katara began to fight back and pulled her own hair back in response, only for her mother to let it go and for her to fall back. Hama caught her just above the ground, and then dropped her a few inches above it so she wasn’t truly harmed.

“Ruffians, thugs, poison ivy, quicksand,” Katara had fallen into a circle of light, where her mother was making terrifying looking shadow puppets to scare her with.

“Cannibals and snakes, the plague,” She also pretended to fry up a little doll to emphasize cannibals.

“No!” Katara responded in fear.

“Yes! Also large bugs, men with pointy teeth and stop, no more, you'll just upset me!” Hama attacked Katara with a mop to scare her, as if the mop were a large bug, and painted a crude face of a man with sharp teeth across the floor which Katara fell right onto. Hama feigned a very upset voice, once again making a dramatic pose.

“Mother's right here, mother will protect you,” she said as she grabbed Katara’s hands, the girl having been wrapped up into an igloo of sorts made from her own hair. She tugged Katara to her feet, and opened her arms for a hug, but when Katara went in for the hug it was her mannequin instead.

“Darling, here's what I suggest,” came Hama’s voice again from somewhere else in the tower.

“Skip the drama, stay with mama, mother knows best,” Hama had her cloak back on, and was up on the stairs. She spun around on them, taking out all of the flames of the candles she had lit for once again, dramatic effect.

“Mother knows best, take it from your mumsy,” Katara was going by lighting up candles so she could see, only for Hama to be coming behind her and putting them out right away.

“On your own, you won't survive,” she laughed as she put out the last candle.

“Sloppy, under-dressed, immature, clumsy - please! They'll eat you up alive!” Hama aimed a large mirror at Katara, who was immediately self-conscious about her clothing, tugging her dress down to cover her exposed calves and feet. The dress was old, but she’d just finished her new one today, she wasn’t going to be underdressed. And then of course Hama tugged the carpet from underneath her, causing her to slip and fall onto the floor and then Hama came by, rolling Katara up in her hair.

“Gullible, naïve, positively grubby, ditzy and a bit, well, hmm...vague,” Hama unwound Katara from her hair quickly, spinning the young woman around and causing her to almost fall once again, but Hama caught her this time before she did with her hand underneath her chin.

“Plus, I believe, gettin' kinda chubby,” Hama teased, patting the underside of Katara’s chin as if the young lady were chubby, which she really was not. Katara kept herself quite fit.

“I'm just saying cause I wuv you,” Hama tugged Katara into a hug, squeezing the little amount of chub on her cheeks in both hands to squish up her face.

“Mother understands, mother's here to help you, all I have is one request!” The room went suddenly dark again and Katara let out a gasp, looking around frantically, only to turn around and see her mother standing in the one area of light, arms outstretched for her daughter. Katara smiled and let out a sigh of relief, running right to her mother.

“Katara.”

“Yes?”

“Don’t ever ask to leave this tower again.” Hama’s face took on a look of almost anger, but very controlled as she spoke.

“Yes, mother,” Katara said quietly as she looked down in defeat.

“I love you very much dear,” Hama said with a smile, tilting Katara’s head up gently.

“I love you more,” Katara responded, the defeated tone still present.

“I love you most.” Hama finished, running her hands across Katara’s hair and then kissing the top of her hair.

“Don't forget it,” she gently poked Katara’s nose. “You'll regret it,” she patted Katara’s hair a few times before turning her around. “Mother knows best!” She grabbed a couple of sections of Katara’s hair and slid her hands down them as she backed away quickly.

“Ta-ta! I’ll see you in a bit my flower!” Hama called up as she was lowered back down Katara’s hair for her second outing of the day an hour or so later.

“I’ll be here,” Katara mumbled quietly, unhooking her hair and not bothering to bring it back inside. She left it to flow outside of the tower, watching as her long white hair billowed in a breeze she could hardly feel upon her cheek as she sighed and leaned over on the window sill. She was still so desperate to go out and see the lanterns, but for now her hopes were completely dashed because her mother refused to take her, so what more could she do? 


End file.
